Employee Misconduct Investigations II

Do you know if your employees are stealing fuel at your company’s expense? Employees with company vehicles typically have company credit cards for gasoline purchases. This is another potential area of major losses for employers, particularly with the $3-4 / gallon fuel prices. Fuel theft can occur when the employee simply uses the credit card to fill up a personal vehicle. Sometimes, unscrupulous employees use the card to fill up the company vehicle and have a friend or family member line up at the gas pump before the transaction is closed to fill up or casually place a few gallons of gas in a personal vehicle to prevent large purchases which could arouse suspicion. Employees might also keep gas cans which are filled up and then emptied out into personal vehicles. Though not they are not large losses per occurrence, frequent fuel thefts can cumulatively cost employers tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the span of a dishonest employee’s career.
Time theft is another area that should be of concern to employers. Field employees and delivery drivers are often not under the supervision of an employer. Time theft can occur when the employee ends the work day early while charging for the hours, running personal errands during work hours, or even missing an entire day of work while claiming to have been at work. Similar to fuel thefts, theft of time can quickly have a cumulative effect with an individual employee, and the effect can be compounded with other employees involved in the same behavior. Some employees tend to emulate the behavior of one or two employees who are not being identified and disciplined.
Do you suspect one of your employees of misconduct? Let Advanced Professional Investigations of Colorado be your consultants in verifying and documenting this behavior so you don’t continue to experience losses in your company!